Gravitas
by NepgyaHeart
Summary: I love winning. I won against the champion and took his title because I could. There was this girl who came in every other day, imploring me for a rematch. Each battle, I won. Until I didn't. And suddenly I was the one on my knees, begging her for a rematch every day. (A champion's rise to and fall from grace told in drabbles)


I love winning. Nothing gets my heart pounding quite like it. With my partner on the battlefield and me at the command, we're unbeatable.

Seeing my partner stand tall as his opponent crumples to the ground… Seeing the devastated, despairing face of my opponent… Feeling the rush of satisfaction of being _better_ than the loser…

It's euphoric.

My smile is inevitable, my sympathies nonexistent. I revel in it.

My partner and I are the winners. Together we aim for the champion's throne.

And if we lose along the way, we'll hunt down the victor until we have the last laugh.

**~X~**

I stand on a battlefield opposite the current champion, known for his composure and stone face.

He's on the floor, clutching his head and screaming in agony, face redder than I thought humanly possible, completely wet with sweat and tears. His last pokémon drags himself across the ground after getting knocked out in one fell swoop by mine.

Come on, he had to have done this to someone else to get his title. If he wanted to keep it so badly, he should have fought harder.

As they hold each other and weep, I smile and take my rightful crown.

**~X~**

Being champion isn't all it's cracked up to be. I hold the title for a full week before someone shows up to challenge me. Apparently people looked forward to more bouts with the previous champ. As if I'm not good enough? I'm better than him!

My first challenger is some starry-eyed kid boasting about how he's been waiting his whole life for this moment. I quickly bring him back down to Earth.

He loses after I send my third pokémon out. And I didn't say anything about fainting. How did this guy beat the Elite Four gauntlet? What a joke.

**~X~**

My sixth unique challenger makes me think. Every championship bout I've watched always ended with the two trainers shaking hands and the challenger promising, "I'll be back for a rematch. Next time, I will win."

I've yet to experience that. So far, everyone runs off and doesn't come back. I don't get it. I beat them. What more do they want, for me to throw the battle? Not my fault they suck. What'd they do, if not beg for a rematch? Did they just give up?

Then they shouldn't have challenged me in the first place. Just wasted my time.

**~X~**

It really is boring to be the greatest at something. The occasional challenger comes and goes, but nothing else. I haven't felt the thrill of victory since I took the champ's throne. No one is good enough to be my rival.

One day, another challenger comes through. She doesn't say much, doesn't even introduce herself. Just stands opposite me with her head held high.

She doesn't interest me too much, so I try to get it over with ASAP.

I win, obviously. And once I do, she bows and says, "Thank you."

Before I ask for her name, she's gone.

**~X~**

She comes back not one week later asking for a rematch. The result, of course, is the same. And again, she bows and thanks me.

She's back two days later. I win again. We clash again after two more days. Then another two. And another. Is she insane?

I still don't know her name, much less the reason behind her persistence. I admit, she and her team's got strength and strategy down. I've come to enjoy and appreciate our matches. No one else has battled me like this.

But no matter how much I respect her, I will never lose.

**~X~**

It's all wrong. Impossible. I must be having a nightmare.

As we were having another bout, somehow I ended up looking the fool. My last pokémon lay on the floor with all but his head encased in ice, unconscious.

Only then do I remember that this girl is after my throne.

Somewhere along the way, I ended up just seeing her as a losing rival and nothing more.

She and her pokémon rejoice as I can't help but fall to my knees. It has to be a fluke, right? This was just a friendly match, right?

I didn't lose… right?

**~X~**

I don't attend the succession ceremony to hand down my title. I refuse to believe I lost. But the League does it for me, apparently.

During the ceremony, I camp outside the champion's room with my mind completely blank. Eventually, she arrives. I throw myself into _my_ chamber and stand on the opponent's spot on _my _battlefield. What a joke.

We release our first pokémon simultaneously. She offers me a smile and greeting. She finally tells me her name, but I don't care enough to hear it.

The battle begins.

And somehow I am the one leaving the champion's room.

**~X~**

Once my pokémon are healed, I go straight back to her. Except there are a couple of trainers there already waiting to challenge her. Already so popular? Reluctantly, I wait my turn.

She greets me with the same smile and introduction as earlier. I hear none of it.

And somehow I lose again.

The next day, I demand a rematch. Then the next. And the next. And the next.

It makes no sense. How could she finally best me after all the times I won over her? Did she lose on purpose back then just to humiliate me like this?

**~X~**

I pull out all the stops for her.

I wasted so many waking hours training with my pokémon. That wasn't the issue.

I burned my money from winning championship matches on a key stone and mega stone collection from someone in Kalos. I got scammed. They were all fakes.

I chased the asshole that emptied my wallet down. Idiot didn't relocate his business after suckering me. I bought the real goods with what I took back. This wasted too many days I could have spent challenging her.

And I still couldn't win.

Why is this happening? It makes no sense.

**~X~**

The world stops spinning as I step into the champion's chamber. Instead of her, there's a different woman inside.

The new champion, she claims she is.

Bullshit.

There's no way that girl lost. There's no way she lost her title. There's no way she didn't win a match with some nobody.

There's no way she didn't lose to me.

The new champ says otherwise. She offers me a battle.

I don't even remember how long I was champion. Screw the title. Who cares? I don't as long as that girl is still out there and I haven't bested her again.

**~X~**

I waste I don't even know how long searching for that girl. She disappeared after losing her title and face.

I refuse to let her go on without losing to me. I don't have anything else to shoot for. Wasted my fortune on rocks, never had any friends, and don't have any other talents besides battling...

And I won't become champion again. As long as it isn't her I win against, I'll refuse the title. Doesn't matter if the current champ is stronger than her. Doesn't matter if they're the strongest trainer in the world.

I'll only accept beating her.

* * *

Author's note: This started off as just the first drabble as an exercise in less is more, which I need. Then I just ran with it, and I think it turned out pretty interesting.


End file.
